"Well, it is only Star Wars," I tell myself as I review my complaints with Dark Tide 1 & 2. Half of me views Star Wars as something extra-literary, a thing of high mythology, but also trivial as bubble gum. To that half, it makes no more sense to critique Star Wars than it does to critique Homer's Illiad or a Saturday morning cartoon. What would be the point? Somewhere between irrelevancy and pure silliness lies any serious critique of Star Wars.But so what if it's "just" Star Wars? The other half of me makes no excuses for the Holy Trilogy, and that half of me inevitably wins.So, on the plus side, Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin Solo are interesting characters. Each is taking a diverging Jedi path that complements their family history and allows for a new spin. Jacen struggles with favoring the contemplative and monastic sides of the Jedi over his combative duties. Jaina pursues her career as a full time X Wing pilot for the legendary Rogue Squadron, and faces challenges fitting in as both a Jedi and the famous offspring of the Galaxy's "first family". Anakin seems perhaps the most talented Jedi of the Solo children, and the wisest, too. But his sensitive nature cripples him with guilt and grief over his role in Chewbacca's death. On the other hand, the Solo children are the only interesting characters. Han is almost entirely irrelevant, understood to be drowning his sorrows over Chewbacca. Since Han is apparently such a one-dimensional person, Chewbacca's death is the only variable in his life. So he sits around passively depressed... for two whole books. What presence Leia has is dominated by politicking and exposition. Saddest of all is the flattening of the Skywalkers, Luke and Mara. Luke is the wooden voice of reason and compromise. The usually wonderful Mara, Emperor's assassin turned firebrand Jedi, serves only to prop up Anakin's character, providing him confidence and conscience. Besides the Solo children, the only character with even a hint of a developing arc is that of Ganner Rhysode, dashing and arrogant Jedi who humbles himself after learning the true meaning of Christmas or something. Seriously, his change of heart is so unambiguous and simplistic it's even not worth discussing.After three books in the New Jedi Order series, I find the Yuuzhan Vong a thoroughly uncompelling villainous race, with little more depth than Darth Maul. The Vong's dogmatic anti-technology crusade is never explored to even the slightest satisfaction, even when a couple of Vong serve as primary point-of-view characters. That the Force is impotent against them strikes me only as a cop-out, as if someone (Lucas, Salvatore, or Stackpole) simply got bored with the Jedi approach to conflict and decided to nullify their raison d'être for the duration of the New Jedi Order series. And then there's the Vong's use of black holes for shielding. The amount of B.S. technobabble and rulemaking that idea necessitated only serves to rob the Vong of credibility in my eyes.A villain should have a method to his madness. He should present not just a threat, but a credible one (e.g. Thrawn). The villains and conflict in Star Wars are best embodied in the Dark Side of the Force: any of us could be a Darth Vader or a Palpatine, metaphorically speaking, if we give ourselves over to the easy, seductive, quick route to satisfaction. We can quibble over which virtues and vices lead to Dark Side or Light, and how, but that we could quibble at all says something about the interestingness and universality of that conflict. We all walk that line between good and evil. But the Vong do not.And so for that reason I question whether the Yuuzhan Vong could possibly be redeemed as a credible Star Wars villain. They're so darkly sado-masochistic, so personally violent, and so mindlessly aloof to the good vs. evil dualism, that they have no place to fit in the Star Wars universe. They are thoroughly inhuman because there's no bridge between their point of view and the reader's. The Vong haven't given in to their evil impulses; they simply carry out their inexplicable, fundamentalist anti-technology crusade... just because.This is not to say that the Vong are a wholly useless idea, but simply that they do not work in the Star Wars equation. There's another sci-fi action story, somewhere, in which the Yuuzhan Vong would do well. With Star Wars, it's just a poor coupling.Finishing Dark Tide, I wonder now if it's worth continuing the New Jedi Order series (entirely dominated by the Yuuzhan Vong war as I understand it) or skipping to the next series. If I am able to sustain interest in New Jedi Order, I hope it's not because I'm continually reminding myself, "Well, it is only Star Wars."
"It is only through functioning together that we can succeed"The war against the Yuuzhan Vong continues. Leia attempts to bring Paelleon and the Imperial Remnant into the fight, while Luke and Mara try to keep the Jedi Order together. And Corran, Ganner, and Jacen go on an important fact-finding mission to Garqi.NOTE: Based on audiobook and novel. I went into Ruin with eager expectation, on a high after reading Onslaught, which was probably a bad thing. Not the reading order, just my unrealistic expectation. It would explain my "meh" reaction at finishing this entry into the New Jedi Order series.Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad book, by no means. Stackpole's worst is better than many authors' best (Kevin J. Anderson? Barbara Hambly?). But nonetheless, I couldn't help the wandering mind as I listened.Character-wise, we get some nice growth from people like Corran, Jacen, and Ganner. Particularly Ganner. I really like the direction that Stackpole took him. Even Corran's arc was nicely done. I love how he ended up being the scapegoat and having to leave the Order to save face. Nice bit of political manuevering there. Even the ever-ambivalent Jacen is pretty nice, as he temporarily sets aside his need to figure out his destiny. When I first read these books ages ago, he had irritated me. "Why are you thinking about where you belong when there's a war going on?" would be a common complaint bouncing around in my head as Jacen hemmed and hawed. Now, I kinda understand what he's going through (ah, aging, it does wonder to your life).However, other characters end up on the chopping block. Han is barely present, and only there to remind us that he is still mourning. Leia secures Paelleon's help and then promptly disappears from the narrative. Luke and Mara are reduced to propping devices for Anakin's character development. Two new, very minor characters (Daeshara'cor, a Jedi Knight investigating superweapons, our favorite plot device, and Anni Capstan, Jaina's wingmate) are barely given any time before they are dramatically killed. In Daeshara'cor's case, her story was boring; in Anni Capstan, not enough time was spent on developing her as a good friend to Jaina, so when she died, I was like, "So what?"Even the storylines were more boring this time around. Leia goes to Paelleon to ask for aid. Whoopee. Luke and Mara hunt after Jedi 372 who wants to use a superweapon. Been there, done that. Even the interesting new character, Chalco, only serves as a surrogate Han to poor Anakin. And then, suddenly, everyone has to hurry to Ithor (ah, how I dislike abridged audiobooks) to have a fight on the surface (but aren't weapons banned from the surface?). We could also go into how characters (Ganner, Corran, Daeshara'cor) tend to monologue about their revelations and their views of the Force, but I don't want to come across as beating a dead horse.Fortunately, Corran and Ganner's mission isn't boring and was kept me interested. I loved how Ganner was brought down to size, and even how Corran learned a lesson in humility. What happened with Elegos was heart-breaking and the devastation of Ithor was even worse. And, as I said above, I liked how Corran had to bear the burden of fault for Ithor. Nice "messianic" vibe from a non-Skywalker.So, if you adored Onslaught, just be wary opening Ruin; you may not exactly get what you expected.
What do You think about Ruin (Dark Tide, #2) (2000)?
The third book in the New Jedi Order series, Dark Tide II: Ruin picks up where Dark Tide I: Onslaught left off. 21 years after the destruction of Darth Vader and the Emperor, the Star Wars galaxy has been hit by a threat deadlier and more terrifying than anything that has gone before. In Vector Prime, invading aliens were routed at great cost to our heroes. Now, in this climate of mistrust, especially of the Jedi, Leia cannot convince the New Republic that the threat may not be over, even as the next wave of alien warships are entering the galaxy. It is up to Leia, Luke and the Solo children to defend the Outer Rim planets from invasionThe conclusion of Michael A. Stackpole's Dark Tide duology, Ruin continues to follow the exploits of Jedi Corran Horn (much of the book's prequel focused on him). The Yuuzhon Vong, an extra-galactic threat, and their war leader Shedao Shai, continue their march on the galaxy while the senate quibbles with one another and the Jedi search for their rightful role in the conflict.Shai has become fixated on the remains of his ancestor, which were disgraced (from his perspective) by Horn in Onslaught. Through his interactions with Senator Elegos A'Kla, we learn more about the Vong's philosophies and worldview, in particular a ritualistic torture device known as the Embrace of Pain. In what is the most intriguing storyline in the book, the pacifist A'Kla surrenders to the Vong as a way of fostering understanding between their two sides. The end result appears to be insurmountable cultural differences, and the end of their relationship is certainly the book's most memorable scene.The novel's other story lines just didn't do it for me, though. Luke and Mara deal with yet another rogue Jedi after a superweapon (this has happened SO many times at this point); Han is almost non-existent, and when he appears it's just to remind us how sad he is; Leia negotiates with the Imperial remnant (the remains of the Emperor's forces), but disappears as quickly as she arrives. The Solo children continue to develop, but not enough attention is paid to them (that we spend more time with Ganner Rhysode than Jaina Solo is beyond ridiculous).Unfortunately, through his duology Stackpole has all but completely de-balled the Vong. They've gone from a terrifying unified force to political infighters, petty revenge artists, and they're altogether too human in their thought processes. Sure, they have some "out there" moments, but when you get down to it, are they all that different from sadomasochistic humans?There are a whopping 19 novels in this series, and it's becoming quite clear to me that this is way too many. There isn't enough development happening for my tastes, to the point where I'm taking a break from the series for a little while. I've never been a Stackpole fan (as many are), and this has done absolutely nothing to change my mind.
—Rick MacDonnell
I don't know how far in advance the series was laid out, but I was impressed with the gradual reveal of the Yuuzhan Vong, a species that exists around a different philosophy than any other in the universe. Technology, promotion, honor, everything is different. This book introduces two flaws in them and manages to erase one in the destruction of an entire planet, but as far as overall series strategy I loved it. The conclusion made them nearly unbeatable and Sith cruel.That said, the characters seem to suffer. Corran stops the destruction of a planet, but when the Yuuzhan Vong kill all life anyway it's his fault? Anakin's guilt is explored over Chewie's death, but the author has to manufacture the scene. Nowhere is a chapter written with the dual purpose of deepening a character while furthering the plot. I did enjoy the bad guys, but exactly because of that. Unless you can paint them well, you shouldn't try.
—Cian Beirdd
Ruin seemed better than Onslaught. Maybe it was just me, but I felt that towards the end, Onslaught seemed a little more confusing, and thought that Ruin on the other hand kept me more involved as things moved along. Regardless, of all of the authors that write Star Wars, Stackpole is one of, if not the best of all of them. One thing that I though was interesting in this book specifically was that they went a little deeper into the culture of . . . a certain planet that most Star Wars nerds are relatively familiar with. (I'm trying to avoid spoilers.) We also get to see into the personalities of some of the characters a little more, which is good. You can see some nice foreshadowing in the things that they say and do.The book was well written and engaging. Freakin' awesome.
—Jeff
